


Halloween is for nerds... but that's what we are

by multifandomcircusfreak



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Less Than 5K, Less Than 5k Exchange, halloween party au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-07 00:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4242438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandomcircusfreak/pseuds/multifandomcircusfreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A "We decided to go as a duo to this Halloween costume party but we suck at communicating and now we're both dressed as the same character...this is awkward" AU written for tinyscienceangels on tumblr. Featuring: a blackmail-crazy Skye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween is for nerds... but that's what we are

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tinyscienceangels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyscienceangels/gifts).



“Skye, no-”

“I’m just saying that-”

“It’s not going to happen-”

“You’ll love it-”

“I don’t care what you think about this, I-”

“Oh, just give it a try!”

Fitz growled into his phone and plopped down on his bed to continue the conversation, even if it had _not_ been going his way so far. He knew that Skye had been hosting a Halloween party every year since - and probably before - they became roommates. He was also aware that she’d been able to force him to go every time. However, this was the first time she was actually asking him to attempt to _coordinate_ with someone and thus make himself the subject of a witty joke for the night, instead of just showing up in a costume based on some nerdy reference like he usually did.

“I don’t see why I should even put the option of showing up as some sort of Siamese cat into consideration. Why is it even necessary?”

He heard her sigh on the other end, and could imagine her rolling her eyes all the way from where she was in the university’s laundry room. “Because, Fitz,” she explained in exasperation, “you’ve shown up to my party as some sort of reference that _nobody_ gets for the past three years and it is no fun.”

“It’s fun for me,” he mumbled, looking up at his periodic table-themed ceiling light.

“I say this with utmost affection; you’re a nerd. That’s why it’s fun for you. _But…_ ” she trailed off.

Oh, no. Not this again.

“It’s also why you and Jemma should definitely go to my party together! You’re nerdy! She’s nerdy! You can be nerdy together and have a reference that you will both get, even if I still won’t!”

Even though there was no one else in the flat but him, Fitz still lowered his voice. “Skye…” he cautioned. “You know very well why I don’t want to do a, er, couple’s costume with Jemma Simmons.”

Another sigh came from the other end of the line, followed by an annoyed “You’re right, I _am_ well aware that you’ve been head over heels for my friend and the only genius I know other than you for the past year and a half. I’m even more aware that you two could have been a couple by now had you decided to actually talk to her instead of avoiding her whenever she comes over.”

“I talk to her in class,” he mumbled, actually feeling sorry for himself. “I just don’t know what to say to her when we aren’t in an academic situation.”

“Sure....” she retorted sarcastically, before pausing and adding, “My load should be done in a few minutes. See you soon.”

“See you soon,” Fitz echoed, glad to be ending that horrific phone conversation. “And for the record, I’m not doing that duo costume thing with Jemma.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Skye slipped in quickly and confidently, before bidding him goodbye and hanging up.

 

***

 

A few hours later, Fitz was slouched on the couch beside Skye, staring grumpily at the blueprints he held in his hands. The time since she had returned from the laundry room had been filled with her ever-persistent attempts to get him to agree to go with Simmons to her party. 

“Has _she_ even agreed?” Fitz had demanded. 

“Well....no,” she admitted. “But I can convince her.”

“And if _I_ still don’t agree?” 

She had simply smirked deviously and held up her phone, revealing that the screen was showing the call page for one of her contacts - one Jemma Simmons. “Then I’ll convince _you_.” With that she pressed “call” and ran into the bathroom, locking herself inside where he couldn’t stop the following conversation she would have with the biochemist on the other side of the phone.

Now, Fitz was trying and failing to finish his work, while Skye lounged beside him, happily flipping through channels on the TV. Any second now, a polite and probably very cute knock would sound on their door, marking his future embarrassment.

“What time is it?” his roommate asked with phony innocence.

Checking his watch, he declared “3:28”. Knowing Jemma, there were only 2 minutes until she arrived, right on time.

Sure enough, at exactly 3:30, Jemma Simmons appeared and knocked (very cutely, in fact) on the door. When Skye called her to come in, she entered quite chipperly, doing a double-take when she saw Fitz sitting on the couch instead of hiding away in his room, before quickly composing herself and continuing on her path towards their mutual friend.

“Good afternoon!” she greeted, setting her bag down on the floor. “You would not _believe_ how much homework Professor Vaughn gave us in Chem today. It was horrific!”

Fitz chuckled. It was true. His bag was at least ten times heavier when he had left that class with a pile of sheets he had to complete, not to mention the amount of online work they were being forced to tend to. And now, thanks to Skye’s nagging, he hadn’t had the time to look over even half of it. At least it would be easier for Jemma, though. She was organized beyond belief and Chemistry was one of her best subjects. Fitz on the other hand…

Jemma looked up at the sound of his laughter with a stunned expression on her face. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. “You should know, shouldn’t you, Fitz? You’re in my Chem class.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

Staring at him just a bit more intently than normal, Jemma opened her mouth to speak again, but was quickly interrupted by Skye.

“So, Jem, I’m guessing you’re wondering why you’re here.”

“Yes, actually,” she admitted, forgetting to look at her friend when she spoke and focusing on Fitz instead. He didn’t know if he liked the fact that she was giving him so much attention, or if he should make his classic embarrassing attempt to leave in order to not embarrass himself. “Your reasoning for me coming over was rather vague… Something about a deal?”

Skye smirked and leaned back in her seat on the couch, pressing the tips of her fingers together in a way that truly made her look like a Bond villain. “I _do_ have a deal of sorts for you… concerning my Halloween party… Fitzy here has agreed to go to said party in a duo costume. I - _We_ think it would be great if you two went together!”

Looking quite stunned, Jemma snapped out of whatever trance she was in and gawked at Skye, then flitted her gaze between the roommates before settling on Fitz again, still shocked. “You agreed to that?”

He winced and blushed. “Not in the way you’d think,” he stammered.

The biochemist turned back to the other girl and explained, “I’ve already got a costume planned, Skye…”

“Well, I did say this was a deal…”

“Skye…” Jemma cautioned.

“And I think you might want to consider…”

“Or else what?” she asked warily.

“Or else there are some things I could say,” Skye threatened, looking even _more_ like a Bond villain as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to nonchalantly play with it as Jemma processed what she’d said.

“I’ll do it!” she agreed hastily, before giving her a begrudging glare. 

Skye’s expression transformed from a powerfully peaceful one to a victorious - or evil, depending on where you stood - smirk to a happy smile, like the last two minutes had never happened. “Great! I’m going to run to the bathroom and leave you two to decide what your costumes will be!”

Not giving them a chance to protest, she ran off. Fitz groaned while Jemma sighed at the whole predicament. Then, the two scientists turned to each other to begin their brainstorm.

Said brainstorm didn’t last very long, because in a reminiscent echo of their behaviour in class, their thoughts combined perfectly to form a single idea.

“Something Doctor Who themed?”

“The Doctor and the TARDIS?”

“Sounds good.”

After that, they returned to their awkward silence until Skye came back. Then, Fitz fled to his room and they didn’t talk to each other outside of class until the night of the party.

 

***

 

Technically, Jemma wasn’t on time. But she wasn’t late to the party either. No, she had arrived about two hours earlier than all the other guests did, but she figured that since she had been helping Skye plan out everything from the decor to the food, she wasn’t just an ordinary guest. Skye had told her that she’d done enough and that she should show up at eight like everyone else, but here she was at six o’clock sharp, ringing the doorbell anyway.

Seconds later, the door opened to reveal Skye, with a piece of scotch tape stuck to her cheek. “Jemma? You’re early. Even for you.”

The biochemist rocked back and forth on her heels in embarrassment, clutching the black bag that contained her costume in both hands. “I thought I’d help set everything up,” she suggested with a bright smile.

Skye’s lips curled up at the sight, and she sighed, ushering her friend in. “Alright. I’m just putting up the balloons.” 

Jemma giggled and ran inside, amazed by the effort Skye had already put in. As she set her bag down beside the door, she took in the signs depicting different festive symbols and phrases that were hung up on many of the walls. Paper plates and cups were stacked on the kitchen table, along with four rolls of orange and black streamers. And true to Skye’s story, dozens of different coloured balloons with pictures of cats and ghosts on them crowded the living room floor.

“I’ve been blowing those up for the past hour,” Skye commented, looking at the balloons. “I’m actually quite glad you’re here, Jem. It’s pretty hard to do all this by yourself.”

Jemma nodded, about to say something that would let her friend know she was always there to help, when she fully processed Skye’s words. “Wait…where’s Fitz?”

“He’s out getting food,” she answered nonchalantly. “Left a couple minutes before you showed up.” Skye stuck out her hand. “Tape, please.”

Finding a roll on the table right beside her, Jemma tore a piece off and placed it in her friend’s outstretched hand. Skye took it and attached it to a balloon, sticking it to the wall. Once it was up, she put her hands on her hips and studied it appreciatively.

“One down,” she muttered, “fifty nine more to go.”

Jemma smiled, thinking that if Skye hadn’t wanted to blow up and arrange so many balloons, she shouldn’t have gotten that many. She held her tongue, however, because she knew that any such comments would be met with a retort about how she wouldn’t settle for mediocrity, which was a concept Jemma understood. It would have been nice if Fitz were there to help, though. 

She didn’t see him all that often outside of class, because for some reason the nice partnership they shared in an academic setting transformed into hatred on his part the second they left. Whenever she did see him, he was always holding some sort of junk food. She was surprised that it was taking him so long to get snacks, considering he must know those aisles by heart.

She also wanted to see what costume he’d come up with to match hers. After Skye had blackmailed/convinced her to go with him to the party, they hadn’t talked about who would be going as who, but Jemma found the decision quite obvious. She would be the Doctor because she was the English one, and Fitz would be the beloved flying blue box. Not that he was beloved or anything…he just liked machines and things…Anyway, she had spent hours working on the perfect costume of the Tenth Doctor. Now, if only Fitz held up on his part…

“Well,” Jemma cleared her throat. “What’s the game plan?”

Skye turned to her and smirked deviously. “Balloons, then streamers. After that, we find the perfect spooky movie to play in the background. Then, Fitz will set up the food while we change into our costumes, and then we’re on door duty.”

“Sounds good.”

So, for the next hour and a half, the two girls continued on their warpath through the party supplies, putting up balloons and streamers and carefully going through all of Skye’s themed movies to chose the absolute best option. They went with one of those cheesy horror films that had a nice soundtrack and was fun to watch, even if it couldn’t scare a small child. Plastic witch hats and magic wands were left all around the apartment.

Once the decorating was done, Skye turned to her and informed her that Fitz would be back any minute to set up the booze and food, and that they should start getting changed. 

Jemma grabbed her costume from where it lay and brought it into the bathroom with her, quickly shedding her clothing and replacing them with her brown pinstriped suit. She placed her sonic screwdriver in her breast pocket, and put her hair up. After giving herself a once-over in the mirror and approving of her look, she exited the bathroom.

She was going to go straight to the kitchen to offer Fitz some help with his task of putting the food out and ask him about how his costume came along, but then she heard Skye’s voice call out from her bedroom.

“Jem! Can you help me do up the back of my dress?”

Jemma stopped where she was, heaved a sigh, and yelled her response, turning around to face her friend’s room. 

“Sure, just a sec!”

She opened Skye’s door to find her standing in the middle of the room, facing her full body mirror. She was clad in a floor length, skin tight dress that laced up in the back, which was completely undone. Jemma observed that there was a long slit up the length of her leg, and knew that Skye had her sights set on someone tonight.

Placing her hands on her hips, she asked, “And who exactly are you supposed to be?”

Skye whipped around, making her curled hair fly around her partially-exposed shoulders. She gestured to the witch’s hat and broomstick that lay in the corner of the room. “Couldn’t you tell? I’m a witch!”

“Really? Because I couldn’t tell whether or not you were going for a witch or a seductress.”

Skye smirked. “Can’t I be both? Now, could you please do up the back?”

Jemma nodded, and Skye turned back to the mirror to allow her access to the laces. The biochemist tightened each criss-cross as she worked her way up the dress.

“So, who is it?” she pressed, hoping her friend would understand the question.

“Antoine Triplett,” the other girl confessed. “He’s coming to the party, and we’ve been flirting for weeks. I figured he may just need an incentive.”

“I’m sure this qualifies.” Jemma tightened the final portion of laces, and tied it off into a nice bow. Stepping away, she watched as Skye donned the hat and broomstick and posed in front of the mirror. She felt somewhat bad for Trip. If he liked Skye as much as she thought he did, tonight was going to be torture.

“We should head to the doors,” the temporary witch/seductress commented while she admired her appearance. “It’ll be eight any second now, and I know from experience that people will be showing up right on time.”

Jemma agreed and headed for the door, promptly being followed by her friend. As she walked through the apartment, she noticed that Fitz’s door was closed and that the food had not-so-magically appeared on the table. With her luck, she wouldn’t be able to see him until the party had already begun, and that would be too late to make sure everything had gone smoothly.

Maybe it would be a good thing that they wouldn’t have the time to be alone before the apartment grew crowded with people. She wouldn’t have a chance to embarrass herself in front of him.

 _Oh, I never should have agreed to this,_ she scolded herself. Though she hadn’t really had a choice. If she hadn’t agreed, then Skye would have told Fitz about the crush she’d been harbouring for him for a year. _Life is so unfair._

Just as her friend had predicted, people were right on time. The second the two women opened the door, they were met with the sight of a dozen people lining up in the hallway, waiting to come in. The steady stream of guests entering continued for a full half hour, meaning that Jemma never got the chance to sneak away to find Fitz.

In fact, the first time she saw him that entire day was when she had finally managed to get away from the door, and he had just come out of his room, in a costume that instantly turned Jemma’s night upside down.

 

***

 

When Fitz entered the room, Jemma couldn’t believe her eyes. She blinked a few times, and when she looked at him again, only to find that he was still there, dressed in a way that would ruin her perfect plan. She wanted to shout. So she did.

“Fitz!” she yelled, rushing towards him in astonishment, frustration and anger. She grabbed his arm in such a forceful way that she heard her mother’s voice in the back of her head, scolding her. Paying no attention to her conscious, Jemma yanked Fitz away from the entrance where he stood and pulled him into the hallway, out of sight.

“What?” he spluttered. “You - you - I thought -”

She cut him off. “We agreed that we would be going as the TARDIS and the Doctor! What is this?” she gestured to his costume, which was one of the Ninth Doctor. A fabulous costume, really. And the sight of the engineer in a leather jacket and a T really was doing things to her. However, it had not been a part of their plan.

“And I held up on my side of the deal, thank you very much!” he argued.

“We’re the same character, Fitz!”

“Actually, we’re dressed as two different people from the same show, even if we are both the Doctor. You never specified exactly who would be going as who, and I thought the choice was obvious, considering the Doctor is a man and the TARDIS is technically a girl.”

“But…but…You’re not even English!” she protested. “I am! And I _figured_ that you would want to be the machine since you are an _engineer_ who works with machines!”

His mouth dropped open at that. “Oh, so you’re _English_. Dressed up as an _English_ character who just so happens to be played by David Tennant who is very much _Scottish_!”

She glared at him, then sighed, rubbing her temples with her hands. “I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither,” he related, making a face so similar to the Ninth Doctor’s that Jemma could actually see them as the same person. “But we can’t stay in this hallway for the rest of the evening. We have to go back out there.”

“And face shame and humiliation?” Jemma whined as she backed up to the nearest wall and let her head drop against it. 

“Well…” Fitz mused. “None of them know who we decided to be. And at least we didn’t both show up as the same Doctor. If we play it off like it was planned, none of them will have a clue.”

“I will!” Jemma cried. “I will know!”

“Don’t you think people will notice if neither of us go back for the rest of the night?”

She slowly sunk down the wall until she reached the floor, and placed her face against her knees, which she wrapped her arms around. “No… I mean if it were just me, then yes, it would be odd. But not if we’re together. They’d just assumed we finally figured out we’re the perfect match and decided to sneak away to act on it.”

Fitz opened his mouth to say something else, but instantly found himself at a loss for words when what she’d said processed in his brain. The only thing he found himself capable of doing was gawking at her like an idiot.

Sensing his eyes on her, Jemma lifted her head up to see him. “What? No!” she tried to explain, attempting to salvage her pride. “I just mean that they…the vague, general they….might think we’d make a good couple.”

“Mhhm.” He took a step towards her.

“I mean it’s entirely probable that people would think we’d be great together,” she hurried as she stood up. “We have the same interests and friends…and it’s not my idea! A lot of people talk about us!”

He took another step forward, so that their faces were just over an inch apart. “And do you, Jemma Simmons, think that we would be the perfect match?”

She gulped, and couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering all over his face, and lingering on his lips. She quickly tore them away from his mouth, and focused intently on his eyes in an attempt to keep herself under control. That didn’t help however, because they were _so blue._

“I…” she breathed. “It’s, um very probable that we would be…On a…a basis of our similarities. Speaking scientifically, it would be a good theoretical combination.”

“Jemma,” he stated. She found herself extremely breathless when she lowered her eyes for a moment because of the intensity of his gaze, only to look up again and have her heart flutter at the sight. Unable to find words, she hummed in acknowledgement of him saying her name.

“Jemma,” he continued, reaching for her hand and holding it between both of his. “On a completely non-scientific, purely emotional standpoint, do you think we’d be a perfect match?”

“Yes,” was all she managed. She never got a chance to say anything else because then his eyes lit up and he was smiling and she couldn’t control it anymore, and before she knew it her lips were on his. 

After that, the rest of the night was a blur that neither of them would ever forget.

***

Epilogue:

Later that night, a certain witch came looking for her best friend and her roommate, to investigate their sudden and prolonged disappearance, only to find them hidden away in Fitz’s room. You could ask anyone at that party who had accidentally wandered into the wrong room what they had experienced, and each of them would tell you that it was definitely a strange sight. Two people dressed as the Doctor, making out.

And to be fair… the next morning, it didn’t matter who wore what costume, because in the end they were both on the floor.

The End


End file.
